


Adrenaline

by agentkane



Category: escape the night - Fandom, safiya nygaard - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-10-11 14:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentkane/pseuds/agentkane
Summary: Cassidy has been invited along side other YouTubers to help Joey out with what they thought was just an adventurous but pretty harmless mission. Taking on the role of the punk, she goes with them to save an old town stuck in the 70s. They very quickly find out that this situation deadly, and start to kind of turn on each other. All of this is a fucking emotional rollercoaster for Cass, and what was a crush on Safiya slowly turns into something more, and maybe even Saf feels it, too.





	1. This isn't what I signed up for

**Author's Note:**

> hi i'm kait and cassidy is my oc that i ship with everybody but for this fic it's safiya
> 
> also this fic doesn't focus much on what happens in the series too much (lowkey spoiler but it goes into the afterlife k)

"Hey guys, I'm assuming everyone else is here because of Joey too?"

I stepped up to the group, standing next to Colleen and Matt.

"Yeah, happen to see him on your way here?"

I looked up at who was talking to me. My heart skipped a beat, seeing it was Safiya Nygaard. I had always admired her and her content, and I thought she was really pretty too. I'd never had the guts to ask to collab with her or anything.

I suddenly remembered to answer. "No, he's not here?" Safiya shook her head. I looked around at everyone, seeing who I knew. "I'm Cassidy, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Cassidy." Ro gave me a warm smile, which I couldn't help but return.

"Nice to meet you, too, Ro."

Eventually, Joey finally showed up. He had a suitcase, saying what was inside could help us get into the town. Which, I finally noticed, we weren't even near.

Safiya read the note from the bag aloud. It said we had to perform a ritual to get the town to appear for us. I was always one to believe in ghosts, spirits, and magic...but this seemed a little far-fetched. We went ahead and did it anyways, and sure enough, a town appeared, along with a carnival.

"This is strange," I commented, to no one in particular.

"Yeah, but it looks fun," Nikita shrugged. She went and caught up with Manny, leaving me with Teala. She gave me a small smile.

"Might as well make the most of it."

As we headed further in, though, she split off with Joey and Colleen. I didn't really know who to go with, but I didn't feel like I should be by myself.

"Here," Safiya came over, motioning me to come with her and JC. She seemed to realize my dilemma. "We're gonna go play some games. C'mon." She smiled, which made me happily do the same. "Anything you're good at?"

"Well, I did used to run games at Six Flags," I told them, walking up to the balloon darts game. "So, I'd say I'm alright at a few things."

"Alright, alright, show us what you've got."

I ended up not doing great at that game, or the breaking plates game. But, I did manage to win at the football game where I did beat JC. Safiya seemed to be really into the cat stuffed animal, so I gave my prize to her.

"Here," I handed it over to her. She gasped, and smiled once again. "Crusty can have a sibling now." She laughed, and agreed.

"Yeah. I guess so. Thank you, Cassidy."

"Of course, Safi-" I was cut off by someone over a loudspeaker. We turned and saw a lady standing on a balcony, and the rest of the group and some other people standing below it. We figured we should go over there.

She was talking about how well the fair was going and how good the town was doing. Her son, apparently, was shouting about how she was wrong, and that she knew something was off. Joey also had this jack in the box that someone was yelling at him to open, and someone else was telling him to leave it closed.

I got a weird feeling as I watched him twist the handle. The jack popped up, and, for some reason, emitted screams from the box. After a couple seconds, it stopped. The lady kept going, saying everything was fine. She was interrupted, though, by a man throwing her off the balcony.

Her son started yelling. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by clowns. Joey and the lady's son started taking us into the arcade, but not all of us made it.

JC, Teala, Manny, Safiya, Nikita, and I made it in safely. The dude finally introduced himself as Mortimer. I didn't know if I really trusted him or not yet, but he did get us to safety. I looked out the window, seeing all of the townsfolk were gone, and now about fifteen clowns were wandering around.

Everyone was pacing around the arcade, except for Safiya. She was sitting on a couch, staring down at the floor.

"Hey." She startled when I talked to her. I sat down to her left. "Are you okay? I know it's scary out there."

"Y-Yeah it's just...shit, there was a lot of those." I let out a small giggle. She cracked a minuscule smile. "What about you?" I took a breath.

"I'm alright. Just worried about the others out there. I can't see them." I looked outside again and she followed suit.

"Wait...there's Matt and Ro." And sure enough, they were running past some clowns, following some lady into a tent.

"Should we help them?"

"No." Mortimer stood up. "I know her; that's Calliope. She's helping them."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Teala raised an eyebrow.

"He brought us to safety," I pointed out.

"He kept us in a single area," JC argued, "he could be trying to kill us."

"If he wanted us dead, he'd leave us for the clowns to get us," Nikita countered.

And we went back to being quiet. About fifteen minutes later, Joey, Colleen, and Roi came running into the building.

"Holy shit are you guys okay?" Manny helped Joey stay upright as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yeah, we got locked in this van," Colleen explained, "but we got ourselves out."  
———

After a long and dumb challenge, we all went back to the lounge, finding spots on and around the couch to rest.

"Guys..." Matt spoke up, "we still have to vote."

The sinking feeling in my stomach returned, same as when I first heard about the voting. It was so twisted. We shouldn't have to die for this.

Everyone split into groups to talk. I went with Matt and Colleen.

"I don't think Teala really did enough," Colleen said, quietly. "She tried, but, I don't think it was her best."

"I don't know about JC." Matt glanced over his shoulder.

"He tried. I thought he did good," I replied. "I...I don't know who to vote for." I rubbed my arm, looking between both of them. "I hate this."

"Yeah...I know it's hard." Colleen rubbed my back for a second.

"I tried my best. I know it wasn't a lot like Matt, or you, or Safiya, but it was my best. I did find a piece for the artifact." They both nodded, knowingly.

"I wouldn't be worried," Matt told me. "You did good."

"It is time," Calliope announced. Everyone went back to the couches. "You will come forward and place the card of who you wish to vote for in the pile. I will shuffle and draw two."

My heart was racing as I watched Joey walk over to the table, then Manny, then Nikita, Rosanna, Roi, Safiya, Teala, Colleen, JC, Matt, and suddenly, it was my turn.

I stood up with shaking hands. I stepped over to the table. I stared down at the cards, stopping at the one with my face drawn on it. I shook my head, and picked up Teala's card, giving it to Calliope. I quickly sat back down.

"The first in is...the hippie." JC's head dropped in his hands. "The second: the super spy." Teala gasped, looking around the room. I felt sick as I looked away. "Pick the two who will fight for you."

"Safiya," Teala answered, immediately. The way she said Safiya's name made me annoyed. It sounded like Sophia.

"Matt."

Well, yeah, they were the two best players so far. I glanced at Matt, who looked about ready to laugh at the irony of the situation. The four of them stood up, and filed out of the lounge.

A little while later, Safiya, Matt, and Teala came back with the last piece for the artifact.

"JC is gone? What happened?"

"There's no point in talking about it," Matt avoided the question. "He's gone, we need to move on."

And so, we did.


	2. I Believe in You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello yes i have lots of chapters for this fic that i wasn't planning to post but this is for my friend so ur welcome

"Place your cards in the pile, and I will shuffle and draw two."

It felt like no time in between trying to cleanse the second artifact and voting for someone again. This time, however, I had someone in mind.

"Nikita."

Matt raised an eyebrow at me. "That was quick."

"I don't like the way she yelled at Roi," I explained, looking away. "It seems like she's just gonna cause drama." He shrugged.

"Fair enough."

Lo and behold the person to go in besides Roi was Nikita.

When they left, Ro started to cry.

"What's wrong, honey?" Colleen tucked some hair behind Ro's ear.

"I-It's just, I feel bad y-you know," she stuttered, making my heart break a bit. "I just p-picked the person I knew the least and-"

"You feel guilty if you vote them in and they don't make it," Colleen finished for her. Rosanna nodded, hiding her face in her hands.

"Ro, this situation isn't your fault," I spoke up, "it's no one's fault. It's the stupid carnival master's fault. Look," I took a breath. "I hate to say it but, it looks like people are gonna die either way tonight. You can't control that. You...you shouldn't feel guilty, okay?" She nodded again, resting her head on Matt's shoulder, who put his arm around her.

And, in ten minutes, Nikita came back with the cleansed artifact.

"Fuck all the bitches who voted for me! I'm here for a long fucking time, I'm coming for all of you," she announced, loudly. Manny got up and hugged her, telling her how happy he was that she was back.

Before the next artifact, we found this box, which apparently was called the Lazarus box, and needed two coins to open it.

The next challenge, we needed to split into two groups. I got put in Teala's group with Matt, Ro, and Safiya. I couldn't be happier, as all three were very good at what they were doing.

I tried my hardest to keep up with Safiya and Matt. I ran as fast as I could, I tried my best to solve clues and find items, and I think I did alright, but, we ended up losing, meaning our names were the only ones up for vote.

"I think it's time to plead your cases," Joey suggested. "Tell us how you think you did this round. Safiya?"

"I thought I helped my team as much as I could," she started, "I really pulled my weight this round and I think you guys really need me."

"Mat?

"I think the same," he agreed with her. "I carried the team this round, with the help of Safiya of course, but you need me too. I'm good. I've proven myself this round and past rounds."

"Cassidy?"

All eyes were on me as I began to speak. "I-I..." Well, that was a terrible start. "I tried my best. I kept up the best that I could with this round. I know it's not much but I know it's my best. I'm putting my all into this."

My heart raced as Ro started to speak. I glanced at Safiya, who gave me a quick smile. I think she could tell how nervous I was.

The past couple times we've worked together, she's seemed to like me, and kind of protect me. It hasn't been much, but when a new monster comes to us, she'll make sure to stand in front of me, or get me inside before her. I tried to look out for her too, but she seems to hold her own pretty well.

Teala and Ro seemed to not please the others much with their cases. Teala straight up said she didn't do a good job this round. I mean, she was right, but she honestly sounded like she wanted to go in the competition.

When I went to vote for her, there were no more cards left. My hands were shaking again. Matt could take the competition, right? Or maybe Ro deserved it more, Safiya could handle it, too, if-

"Please pick," Calliope interrupted my thinking. "There isn't much time."

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes as I pointed to Matt's card. Teala's was mostly in there anyways, it didn't matter.

I sat back down, not making eye contact with anybody.

"The first one in is...the super spy." This time, Teala didn't gasp at all. "The second...the punk."

I snapped my head up. "W-What?" I didn't look at anybody but Safiya. "I-I..."

"Follow me."

Teala got up. As did I, and Safiya followed suit. "You're going to be fine." She looked to see that Teala left the room. "With the way you've been fighting I have no doubt you'll come back. She doesn't stand a chance." She gave me a quick hug. "You'll do great. Good luck."

I started walking out. I got good lucks and wishes from Mat, Colleen, and Ro.

"Fuck everyone who voted for me," I mumbled as I followed Teala out to the forest. We stopped before the bridge. Teala reached over and held my hand. I let her, seeing how scared we both were.

We read the note. It said we needed to find all the letters of the No Name Man's name, and scream it out. My letters were yellow, Teala's were red. If we both took to long, we both would die.

"Good luck," I whispered.

"Good luck."

We shared one last smile before the game had started. We sprinted off into the fog.

Teala found the first letter, but I quickly caught up. I found three in just a minute.

"How are you finding them so damn fast?"

"Just keep looking!"

I took my own advice, and found two more letters. I had three more to go. Teala found another two. The man came close, and almost hit me, but I screamed and ran away.

I was down to one letter. She had three. I felt more confident as I looked around for the last one.

I almost got hit again, and it took me another two minutes, but I finally found it: an E buried lightly under some leaves. I sprinted back to the table, rearranging the letters until I figured it out.

"Benjamin!" I shouted, my heart pounding. "Your name is Benjamin!"

Teala stared at me with wide eyes. The box in between the tables opened. I took the blood gem out, studying it for a second before I heard her screaming. I turned away immediately.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Teala!" I yelled, covering my ears until it was silent. I ran back to Mortimer, tears in my eyes.

"You got it?" I held out my hand. "Alright, let's get back."

I made it back to the lounge. As soon as I walked in, I was engulfed in a hug. It took me a second to register that it was Safiya. Matt joined in as well as Ro, and I finally smiled again.

"I told you," Safiya mumbled. "I told you you would make it back."

I pulled away to smile at her. "You get the gem?" I nodded, happily, giving it to Joey, who looked excited to see me as well.


	3. So we're just losing the best people, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ah finally, a non filler chapter thank god

"I...I'm here because I died..."

I watched as Joey started to tear up. We all started to get suspicious as to why he brought us here in the first place, and he finally explained it to us.

"I died and I got trapped here. I needed you here so I could save the town and myself. I-I didn't know dying was apart of it."

Colleen didn't look convinced. I wasn't so sure if I was, either. I looked to Safiya, who I couldn't really read. "I'm sorry, but we have to keep pushing on."

"So you brought us here to save yourself?"

"I didn't know I'd be putting you in danger!"

Colleen rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just find the next artifact and the coins for this."

The next artifact wasn't too hard, but the competition had to be two boys. Our only options were Matt, Joey, and Manny.

"Obviously you're our best player," I said to Matt. "A-And I don't know if I can trust Joey. We need you, though. I'm not voting you in."

"Me neither," Safiya agreed. Matt looked a bit relieved.

"Thank you, I know I can trust you two." He smiled, quickly, before we needed to go vote.

I put Joey in. He brought us here, he made us go through all this. I'm over it and I wanted him out.

"The first in is...the detective." My jaw dropped.

"Matt? What the hell?"

"The second is...the record producer."

"What?" Colleen stood up.

"Please, both of you follow me to get changed, then the rest of you can come to watch."

"To watch!?" I already witnessed Teala's death, I couldn't watch anymore.

Soon enough we went outside to watch Matt and Manny compete in different 'strong man' competitions. I had faith in Matt. He was gonna make it; he had to.

On the last challenge, they were tied. Mat looked so worn out. I was a bit worried. I started yelling for him.

"C'mon Matt you can do this! You're gonna make it!" I shouted. Safiya and Ro started yelling with me.

But, no matter how hard we cheered him on, Matt lost. The Strong Man came up to him.

"I can't, I can't watch." I turned away again. This time, though, Safiya wrapped her arms around me. I full out cried this time. Matt, our best guy, the one who told me to do great when I was losing faith in myself...was gone.

She gently stroked my hair as I cried for a couple moments. I felt someone grab my other hand that wasn't around Safiya. I looked to see Ro, who smiled sympathetically.

"We gotta stay strong," she reminded me, through tears of her own. "It's what Matt would want. He'd want us to fight."

"Right...yeah." I pulled away and hugged Ro instead.  
\------

Thankfully, this round, Safiya found one of the coins for the Lazarus box, but we had no leads for the other one.

This next round...was weird. It was dolls. And sticking our hands in weird stuff. I think Ro and I almost threw up a couple times, but we made it through.

This competition, wasn't a competition. We had to vote for one person to get in the Maiden of Madness; no chance of fighting.

Joey had proven himself this round. He made it clear he really didn't want us in danger, and he found the other Lazarus coin. Colleen apologized for being wrong about him, but no one seemed to care at this point.

Most of them had picked Colleen's card, showing it to the group, including Rosanna. I stepped up to the table. For a second, my hand hovered over my own card. This night had been fucking horrible, I was traumatized so much already. At the last second, I switched to Colleen's card, feeling sick to my stomach as I showed it.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I apologized, crying exactly like Ro did.

There wasn't a point to shuffle, but Calliope did anyways. It was no surprise who was picked. "Guys, guys don't..."

Joey and Manny grabbed Colleen's arms. She started to scream. I turned away once more, pressing my hands to my ears, hard. I heard the metal doors close. Colleen let out one last blood-curdling scream.

The room went silent. I still didn't turn around. I heard a drawer open followed by footsteps.

"C'mon." Safiya put her hand on my back. "Let's get out of here."

I headed out with her and the rest of the group.

We got back to the lounge. No one was really talking, until Nikita suggested we opened the box.

Joey and Safiya put their coins in the slots. It opened to reveal a harp with a note attached to it.

"The harp has one last song to play before its magic is gone," Joey read aloud. "Strum three times and think of the name of someone to bring back from the dead." He looked up at Safiya. Whoever they were thinking of, it was the same person. "You know who?" She nodded, quickly. Joey strummed it three times. It glowed each time, then went out for the last time.

I sat in the back of the room away from the group. I sat back in a chair, closing my eyes for a moment. I almost just put my own name in to get killed. This night is fucking me up so much. I wanted to leave so badly, to never even go to a damn carnival ever again. I also wanted a nap. Yeah, that sounded good.

I opened my eyes again, almost instantly finding Safiya. She was pacing around the room, as was Joey. In the midst of this mess and everything fucking me up, I still had a crush on her. It may have even gotten more intense, seeing her fight and actually kind of protect me. Then again, this was not the time nor the place to be having crushes on people. Especially a straight girl with a boyfriend. And said girl hadn't met me till today.

"Hey, you okay?"

Ro sat down in front of me, looking concerned. I shook my head. "No. Are you?"

"No...but you seem worse," she admitted, quietly. I sighed, pulling on the sleeves of my jacket.

"I...I almost put my name in last round. I-I don't wanna be here anymore. I wanna go home, but that doesn't seem like an option." And for the fourth time that night, tears started rolling down my cheeks. I was sure all of my makeup had come off by now.

"Fighting's an option," she countered. She reached out to hold my hand.

"B-But Matt fought," my voice cracked, "and Colleen fought and..."

"You fought. You beat Teala."

I stared at her for a moment. Her outfit was brightly colored, unlike mine. It complimented her well; the green jacket with the yellow hat went well with her cheerful and hopeful personality. I was the punk; I had to dress in mostly black and distressed clothing. Well, it was a lot more distressed than at the beginning of the night.

"I don't know. It seems like we have a bit of a break now, though. I guess we're waiting for whoever's showing up," I shrugged. "Maybe we don't have to talk about dying for a little bit."

Ro's face suddenly lit up. "Like how you keep staring at Saf-"

"Shh!" I leaned forward. "Be quiet. And I'm not staring at her."

"Yeah you are." She poked my arm, playfully. "You like her, don't you?"

I let out a breath, taking another look at Safiya. Even though she looked stressed as fuck and a little worn out, she still looked cute. Which, I didn't think was fair.

"It's...whatever," I shook my head once more. "This isn't the time nor the place for having crushes."

"So you do like her?" Ro smiled even more brightly, which I didn't think was possible.

"She's straight, anyways, and you know she's dating Tyler." I shrugged. "It doesn't matter if I like her." We stayed quiet for a minute or so. "What about you, Ro? How's your boyfriend?"

And with that, I got a long explanation about their recent vacation to Hawaii. In any other circumstance, I would've been annoyed, but tonight, I was okay with finally not hearing about drama or death or the stupid artifacts.


	4. Losing hope and you

A few minutes into Ro and I talking, we heard something from the lounge. Safiya and Joey quickly made their way over as the rest of us stood up. 

"Matt? Holy shit, you're back!"

I let Rosanna hug him first, but made my way over before anyone else could. 

"You better be here to stay this time," I mumbled, making him laugh, softly. 

"I'll try, Cassidy, I'll try." 

For the next artifact, we needed to into this funhouse and "solve" all of the rooms. We basically got split into two teams, and luckily I was in the same room as Matt, Ro, and Safiya. The first person to get caught by the funhouse guy was Matt, which sucked, but at least the rest of us knew what to do at that point. Not even ten minutes later, though, he came back for me. 

I was kind of yelling as he took me out of the room and the tent to a locked cage, where Matt and Nikita already were. 

"There must be something we can do," I immediately started looking around. "There's gotta be some clues, or a key or-"

"There's nothing," Matt cut me off, gently. "We already looked. There's nothing we can do."

I huffed, and sat on the ground. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Cassidy?" I looked up.

"Safiya?"

"Are you okay?" I couldn't see her, but I could hear her. My hands started to shake a bit less; her voice combined with Mat sitting next to me was calming me down.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm with Matt and Nikita. All three of us were caught," I told her. "You good?"

"Yeah, almost done with this room. I'll see you later, Cass!"

And with that, her voice was gone. Matt took a spot next to me. "Hey, I know tonight's been tough, but I just want to say that I'm proud of you, kid." He gave me a soft smile. "You've done a lot better than I thought you would've. You're fighting pretty hard, I think you might just survive this."

Matt held out his fist, and I bumped it with mine. That was one of the few times that night that my stomach wasn't dropping out of fear. "Thank you, Mat. You've been doing really good, too-"

"Stay in there!"

Both Joey and Manny got thrown in with us, leaving Safiya and Ro as the only ones inside. Like I did, they started looking around, and like Matt told me, he told them there was nothing.

Unlike us, though, they stayed up against the chainlink fence, looking out into the night.

A few minutes later, an alarm went off, and the funhouse guy came back.

"Looks like your friends solved the rooms!" Mat stood up and reached a hand out to help me.

A moment later, Ro and Safiya appeared. I ran up to the fence. "We...We have to pick two of you," Safiya explained. "Ro and I are safe."

"Go, hurry so I can kill more of you." The guy laughed.

"We'll be back soon!" Ro called, and they left again. I sat back down, once again feeling defeated.

"Well, you just came back," Nikita started, "and Ro likes you too much, and Safiya likes you too much."

"W-What?"

"Don't act surprised." She flipped her hair. "It's so obvious. You two like, have a thing for each other."

"You and Manny are best friends, so what if her and Safiya are like that?" Matt countered. Nikita shrugged.

"Not fair to us is all."

"You'd do the exact same thing if the situation was flipped," he continued to argue, looking more upset.

"Hey, Matt." He looked down at me. I shook my head, and he sighed, giving up the fight.  
———

"I-I can't let Joey get hurt," Ro admitted, taking her hat off and putting it on the table. "And Matt just came back..."

Safiya considered their options. Manny and Nikita seemed like the obvious choices, but what about Cassidy? She almost instantly felt sick at the thought. It was a little...weird. Safiya felt this weird connection to Cassidy, and wanted to keep her safe. She felt like she should trust her gut.

"Not Cassidy," she said, a little too fast. Ro raised an eyebrow, and looked almost...giddy to Safiya? That was weird, too. "I- we can't hurt her, either." Ro nodded.

"Nikita and Manny it is."   
———

"You two." The guy unlocked the gate, pointing at Manny and Nikita. "Come with me. Now. The rest of you leave before I kill you too."

I hesitated, as I was a bit confused. Mat pulled on my arm.

"Let's go!"

We ran away, all the way back to the lounge.

"Safiya!"

"Cassidy!"

For some reason, we ran and hugged each other tight. Our situation wasn't that dire this time, but carried on being happy to see each other.

"Thank you, thank you for not choosing me." Safiya pulled away, looking a bit confused.

"Why would I choose you? You know I've been protecting you." I hugged her again.

"I-I know...I was still worried, though. I've kinda just been worried this whole night..." I admitted.

"Yeah." She nodded, knowingly. "I've been, too. Let's settle down and wait for one of them to come back."

And for the next fifteen minutes, we actually had a nice conversation. We weren't worried about monsters or artifacts...and I got to see Safiya smiling again for a little bit.

But that all changed...way too quickly.

The funhouse guy slowly walked into the lounge. We quickly got up, walking to back of the room.

"What are you doing here?" Joey asked. "We're not in the challenge!"

Like before, Safiya stood in front of me, but I realized something. He was headed for her.

"No, no, don't touch her."

And this time, I stepped in front of her, standing tall.

"Cass, what the hell are you-"

"He wants you," I whispered back. "You picked the people who went in. It has to be it."

He came closer and closer. "Don't fucking touch her." With one hand, he threw me off to the side and I hit the ground. I flipped over just in time to see him raise his hook.

"Safiya!"

"Cassid-"

Before she could call back, he got her in the stomach. She crumpled to the ground as he walked away. "Safiya! Oh my god, no, no, no." I crawled over to her, trying to pull her sweater up to see if there was anything I could do. Dark blood pooled down her stomach onto my hands and the floor. I quickly wiped my hands on my skirt, and rested her head in my lap. Tears were falling fast, cries coming faster.

"Safiya...no." I ran my fingers through her hair, and watched her take her last breath. "Fuck! What the fuck, this isn't fair!" I started shouting.

"Guys! Guess what?! We both got to live!" Nikita flounced in, holding the last light for the artifact. "What happened to her?"

"The guy came back, he killed her," Joey explained.

"Yeah...it said that whoever voted the winner in was gonna get killed," Manny told him.

"Guess she got what she deserved." Nikita put the last bulb in the artifact and put it on the shelf.

"What did you say?" I gently put Safiya's body back down, slowly standing up.

"She wanted me dead," Nikita repeated, "so she deserved it."

"This girl had done nothing, nothing but be an absolutely amazing player," I started, feeling heat rise through my body. "She started no drama, no rifts in the group. All she wanted was for all of us to fucking survive...for me to survive," I whispered, mostly to myself. "How fucking dare you. She did what she had to. Mat just got back and Joey needs to get his shit done."

"Then why not you?!"

"I...I don't know why." I looked back down at her. "I'll never know why."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is written a little weirdly so bear with me here

The next round had to do with stupid witches and curses. Ro, Joey, Manny, and Matt all managed to get cursed, meaning they were the ones to go in the challenge, which, again, wasn't fair at all. Rosanna was a fighter, she really was, but...against all the guys? I honestly didn't know if she could do it.

We walked up to the challenge set up for them. It was four obstacles, and whoever made it through last was going to lose. Before they started, I separated Ro and I from the group.

"You can do this," I told her. She wasn't looking at me. She played with the sleeves of her jacket. "Remember what you told me? No one here has the strength and courage that you have. Ro, I wouldn't have made it this far without you. You're going to win this thi-" Before I could finish, she hugged me tightly. It took me a second, but I hugged her back. "You're going to win this thing."

Ro finally looked up at me. Brown eyes looked almost black in the dark. "Thank you, Cassidy." 

"No problem, Ro."

We hugged one last time before going back. The competition started. They began drinking out of the mugs, and almost instantly everyone started gagging. From what I could tell, they had to drink until it was all gone so they could find the pentagram at the bottom of one of the cups. Joey finished first, Matt following close behind. Before Ro could finish, she started throwing up. 

"C'mon Ro, keep going!" My words were more positive than my thoughts. She took another sip, and threw up again. "Don't think about it, just close your eyes and go..." 

Matt had finished the race, and just as he did, Manny went on to the next obstacle. 

My eyes burned as tears streamed down both mine and Ro's face. Matt and Joey were now yelling encouragements too. At this point, we all knew her fate. She wasn't gonna make it.

I wanted to run. I wanted to run so fucking far away. Safiya was gone, and now Ro was going to die too? I couldn't stand to watch, to hear her scream. 

So, I ran. I sat outside of the arcade. I clutched my stomach, starting to sob. Even though I was further away, I still heard the echoes of her last screams. I squeezed my eyes shut. I had a death grip on my jacket; I was sure I was ruining the leather. "Look, Safiya," my voice cracked immediately. "I kn-know you protected me, b-but I don't know how much more I can, I can..." I cut myself off with another sob. "I'm sorry..." 

I heard footsteps crunching against the road. "Cassidy? We thought you were hurt." I didn't answer Manny. Someone sat down next to me. 

"Give us a minute, please, guys." 

Matt put an arm around me. I couldn't calm myself down. I kept thinking about what was gonna happen next. Everyone I cared about tonight died at some point or another. I was losing hope so much quicker now. 

"Before I came back," Matt started, "I heard you and Ro talking. I know you wanna give up, but I still think you have a chance, Cass." 

"Yeah, I thought they had a chance, too," I mumbled. 

"Negativity won't get us anywhere."

"Neither will positivity."

"Cassidy..." I stood up. Matt followed suit. 

"Just look at Ro, the most positive person out of all of us." I turned around, stepping away from him. "It's just a matter of time, Matt. I hate that I don't see a point anymore but...I-I don't." My voice was shaking again. 

"What was the point in Safiya protecting you, then?" I faced him again. 

"Don't," I whispered. "Don't bring her into this. I don't know why she protected me." 

"I know you feel that connection," he continued. I don't really know why, but anger bubbled in my stomach. "she felt it, too. She doesn't know why either, but she followed it." 

I gently kicked some rocks on the ground instead of answering. "Stay alive. Stay fighting, for her." I was still watching my boots when one of my laces came untied by itself. I looked up. Mat smiled, slowly. "She wants you to keep going, too." I scoffed and rolled my eyes, wiping my tears away. 

"C'mon, that's Ro, she's closer to the ground." He laughed, softly, as did I. "Fine, you two, I'll try, but if I don't make it, you better be waiting with some food, apparently crying and running from death makes you hungry." I felt something light press on my cheek. As soon as it was gone, I realized it was a kiss. I ran my fingers over the spot. I also realized Ro wasn't tall enough to kiss me. I blushed, heavily. I shook my head, and stepped forward. I pulled him into a hug. 

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Cass."  
———

"Saf, we have a problem."

"What? What's going on?" Colleen motioned for Safiya to follow her. She'd been hanging out with the rest of the group that didn't make it, including the ones Joey had apparently invited to former parties, where similar events took place. 

"It's Cassidy." 

Ro had just appeared moments before. Safiya's heart couldn't handle Cassidy appearing, too. Colleen lead her back in front of the arcade, where Cassidy was sitting on the steps, crying her eyes out. Her stomach sank as she watched, not being able to do anything. 

"Look, Safiya," Cassidy started. She had a mini heart attack, thinking maybe Cassidy could see her, but her eyes were closed, and it was just coincidence that Colleen had seen her crying and brought Safiya over here. "I kn-know you protected me, b-but I don't know how much more I can, I can..." She sobbed again, then apologized to her. 

"Where are the others?" Safiya asked Colleen. "She needs Matt." 

Just as she was wondering, the group came back, and just as she suspected, Matt sat down next to her, putting an arm around her. 

"Thank god."

Both Safiya and Colleen jumped at Ro's voice. "I heard her crying while I...yeah." 

They turned their attention back to Matt. “Before I came back, I heard you and Ro talking, I know you wanna give up, but I still think you have a chance, Cass." 

"Yeah, I thought they had a chance, too." 

They went back and forth for a bit, breaking Safiya's heart in the process. She hated hearing Cassidy talk like that. She still didn't know why she felt so strongly towards her. Cassidy got up, walking straight through Colleen. 

"I'll leave you guys to it." She gave them a sympathetic smile and walked back to the others.

"It's just a matter of time, Matt. I hate that I don't see a point anymore, but...I-I don't." 

"What was the point of me protecting you?" Safiya asked, then remembered Cassidy couldn't hear her when she didn't turn. 

"What was the point of Safiya protecting you, then?" Matt repeated her. Oh. Cassidy turned back around, looking broken. 

"Don't...Don't bring her into this. I don't know why she protected me." 

"Me neither, Cass," she mumbled to herself. Ro smacked her arm. 

"I know you feel that connection," Matt continued, "she felt it, too. She doesn't know why, either, but she followed it." 

Safiya placed her hand on Cassidy's back. She let Cassidy's emotions flow through her, and felt the same feeling Safiya felt towards Cassidy...but, it felt slightly romantic, too. She remembered the feelings she read from Cassidy earlier, and it made sense. It didn't feel weird to her, though, which Safiya thought was strange. It should feel weird. Both girls had only met tonight. 

"She had a crush on you from your videos," Ro spoke up. Safiya nodded, stepping back from Cassidy. "I wanna talk to them."

"I know, I do, too."

"Maybe I can do something so they know we're here."

"Stay alive. Stay fighting for her." 

Cassidy didn't reply to Matt. She kicked a couple of rocks on the ground. Ro got an idea, and pulled on Cassidy's shoelace, and, by some miracle, it actually came undone. To her luck, both of them noticed it. "She wants you to keep going, too." 

"C'mon, that's Ro, shes's closer to the ground." Ro scoffed as Safiya laughed along with Mat and Cassidy. "Fine, you two, I'll try, but if I don't make it, you better be waiting with some food. Apparently crying and running from death makes you hungry." 

Safiya smiled, and felt the sudden urge to kiss Cassidy's cheek. She had been following her instincts all night; why stop now? She put a hand on her shoulder, and pressed a kiss to her skin. Cassidy ran her fingers over the spot and blushed. Fuck. She felt that. 

They hugged and Cassidy thanked him. They went back inside, but the girls didn't follow. 

"She's gonna be okay, right?"

"She's gonna be just fine, Safiya."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw//suicide kind of  
the concept basically the last challenge of season three, but instead of nikita killing manny she kills herself (that’s the CONCEPT not the characters just to be c l e a r)

The next round was zombies and this clown zombie lady named Lucy. For the voting this time, though, none of us had the heart to vote for anyone else. So, we each put our own names in. 

"The first in is the punk." I took a deep breath. Mat rubbed my back. "The second; the detective." I stepped back, staring straight into his eyes. This couldn't be happening. I wanted to say it wasn't fair, but it was. We all put our names in, fair and square. 

My hearing went out as we walked back into the tent. Mat and I were put into straight jackets and needed to find keys to open ourselves, and other boxes. 

"Don't you dare give up on me. We're making this a fair fight," Matt told me, firmly. I didn't have time to reply as we were told to go. I ran through the balls and popcorn, finding a key quickly. Mat found one as well. We brought them back and got unlocked, but the sleeves still covered our hands. 

We looked for more keys, opening the boxes but finding nothing. My whole body was shaking out of fear. I was either about to die, or about to try and survive without Safiya, Ro, or Matt.

I finally found another key and opened my third box. It contained a pink gun, and a note. I stood up and read it aloud. "Kill yourself or kill your friend; you decide how this ends." Matt suddenly stopped what he was doing. 

"Cass, think about this."

"Matt, I'm sorry," I started sobbing, knowing what I was about to do. 

"It's okay, you can make it through this night." I shook my head. 

"You can make it without me." His face fell as I cocked the gun, he ran towards me. "Get out of here alive. For all three of us." I pressed the gun to the side of my head, the cold metal poking through my hair. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"No, Cassidy don't-"

Pain ripped through my head as I fell back. The last thing I heard was Matt screaming before my hearing went out, and the extreme pain in my brain went away.   
———

"Which box is it?"

"Hmm, let me see."

Liza stepped up to Cassidy's boxes, holding her hand over each one and stopping at the last. "This one." 

"What's in it?" Ro asked. She reached through the metal, picking up a pink gun and a card. 

"Kill yourself or kill your friend," Liza read. "You decide how this ends..." She looked up, glancing between Ro and Safiya. 

"What?! We have to help Matt win! Cassidy's gonna make a stupid decision!" She went over to where they were searching for keys. 

"Saf, you can't do anything," Liza spoke up, going over to her. 

"Maybe she won't do what you think she will," Ro interjected. Safiya shook her head. 

"She's been looking for a reason since I was gone...since Colleen was gone. It's either stay alive without us and have to kill Matt, or kill herself and get an easy way out."

"I mean, Cassidy is really young, she's seen so much tonight," Liza spoke up, carefully. "She's got anxiety already. All this trauma on top of it? She shouldn't do it, but..." she trailed off, seeing the way Safiya was looking at her. 

They watched as Cassidy opened the box and read the card. They all knew her decision, Matt included. 

"We're leaving. Now."

Liza grabbed both of their hands, transporting all of them back to the lounge. Cassidy would appear here in just a few seconds. 

"I-I think I need to do this." Both Ro and Liza nodded, leaving Safiya to herself.  
———

My eyes opened again. I realized I was back in the lounge. "Oh for fuck's sake," I mumbled, "I'm still here? Can't I go to heaven at least?"

"Apparently not, no."

I quickly sat up. "Safiya?"

"Cassidy..."

I turned around and didn't waste a second as I pulled myself into her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I started to fall apart yet again. "I couldn't kill Matt and I couldn't do it without any of you." 

"I know, Cass, I know." She stroked my hair again, calming me down almost immediately. It was weird, but I didn't want to waste the time to think about it. "It's okay, you're okay." I closed my eyes, resting my head on her shoulder. I let us sit in silence for a couple minutes before speaking up again. 

"Thank you," I told her, again, "for doing your best to keep me safe. I don't know why you did...but thank you."

"Yeah, of course, Cassidy."

I looked up at Safiya. She looked alive and well. If I didn't see her die, I wouldn't guess that she had. There was so much I wanted to ask her about. I know she heard Mat and I talking, so she must know how I feel about her. "There's time for talking later." I nodded, silently. "Do feel okay enough to walk?" I nodded again. I got off her lap, both of us standing up. 

"Now, this whole being dead thing is a little weird," she explained, taking me out of the arcade. The town was quiet. Not creepy, no, this time it was almost comforting. "Apparently, before this night, Joey had invited other friends to other events, and they happened a lot like ours." We walked out of the town. A white door was in the middle of the road, attached to nothing, labeled 'The Second Night.' Safiya led me through it, and we were met with a foyer with white floors, a tall staircase, and a chandelier. "This, is where the night before ours happened, where Joey died."

We went through the room, into what looked like the living room. Liza Koshy, Tana Mongeau, some others I recognized, and the people who died before me tonight were in there. 

"Cassidy!"

"Ro!" She ran up and hugged me. "I'm happy to see you again."

"I'm happy too!" We shared smiles. "I mean, not because of how you got here, or why you're here or-" I put my hands on her shoulders. 

"Ro, we can't change what happened," I reminded her. "So, let's just be happy."

She hugged me again "I'm good with that."


End file.
